Timothy David Olyphant (born May 20, 1968) is an American actor. Olyphant is known for his film roles, as well as for playing sheriff Seth Bullock on the series Deadwood.
Olyphant was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and raised in California. He was a U.S. National Finalist in the 200 Individual Medley and swam competitively at the University of Southern California in L.A., where he studied fine art and theater. After graduating, Olyphant moved to New York City, where he was acquainted with actress Jennifer Garner, and attended William Esper's acting program. Olyphant has been married to Alexis Knief since 1991 and has three children.
Olyphant began acting in plays, and received the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance for playing Tim Hapgood in "The Monogamist". Olyphant subsequently appeared in "SantaLand Diaries" and "Plunge" on stage, and made his film debut with the 1996 film The First Wives Club. He followed the role up with parts in the films Scream 2 (1997), Go (1999), The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy (2000) and Gone In Sixty Seconds (2000). During this time, Olyphant also guest starred in an episode of Sex and the City.
Since March 2004, Olyphant has played the lead role of sheriff Seth Bullock on HBO's Deadwood. Olyphant considered it to be one of his first leading roles as a "complicated" and "complex" character. More recently, he has had more prominent roles in Rock Star (2001) and the 2003 adaptation of Stephen King's novel, Dreamcatcher. He also played pornography movie producer Kelly, alongside Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert, in The Girl Next Door (2004). And will be making a new film in (2009) called "Why Marlene Loves Ricardo".
Olyphant's latest film role is in the comedy Catch and Release, playing the love interest of Jennifer Garner's character; Olyphant was cast in the role over several other known actors, including Matthew Fox. The film opened in January of 2007. He will also appear in Live Free or Die Hard, as the villain, a cyber-terrorist; Stop-Loss, about the Iraq War, playing a Lieutenant Colonel; Bill, a comedy co-starring Aaron Eckhart and Jessica Alba; and as Agent 47 in Hitman, based on the popular video game franchise. Filming on Hitman is scheduled to begin in March of 2007, in Europe.
Olyphant serves as the sports reporter for Joe Escalante's morning show on LA radio station Indie 103.1, every Monday through Friday.
Year
Title
Role
Notes
The First Wives Club
Brett Artounian
A Life Less Ordinary
Hiker
Scream 2
Mickey Altieri
Hooks
No Vacancy
Luke
Go
Todd Gaines
Advice from a Caterpillar
Brat
Gone in Sixty Seconds
Det. Drycoff
The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy
Dennis
Head Over Heels
Michael
Auggie Rose
Roy Mason
Rock Star
Rob Malcolm - Guitarist, Blood Pollution
Doppelganger
Brian
Coastlines
Sonny Mann
The Safety of Objects
Randy
Dreamcatcher
Pete Moore
A Man Apart
Hollywood Jack
The Girl Next Door
Kelly
Catch and Release
Fritz
Live Free or Die Hard
Thomas Gabriel
Bill
Chip
post-production
Stop-Loss
Lt. Col. Boot Miller
post-production
Hitman
Agent 47
filming
